Adding Fiberglass Insulation To Your Attic

Cover the attic hatch with a pillow of fiberglass insulation.

Adding fiberglass insulation to your attic.

This type of insulation. Blanket insulation is available as batts or rolls and is the easiest diy insulation material. You want a nice big puffy pillow of insulation to stop any air leaks says olson. To get the target r value from the product you chose use the number of bags your calculations showed that you needed to insulate your attic never fewer.

When i think of insulation what comes to mind is fiberglass blanket insulation. Most attics are insulated with blown in loose cellulose r 3 5 per inch blown in loose fiberglass r 2 5 per inch or fiberglass batts r 3 2 per inch. Cellulose is recycled newsprint treated with a fire retardant. If you check with the north american insulation manufacturers association they ll assure you that fiberglass or mineral wool is definitely your best choice for attic insulation.

Loose fill fiberglass attic insulation still experiences convection but not nearly as much as old fiberglass used to. When adding additional insulation you do not have to use the same type of insulation that currently exists in your attic. Cut two layers of r 19 fiberglass batt insulation slightly larger than the hatch and staple duct tape to the hatch edges to secure it in place. It s available in fiberglass mineral wool plastic fibers and natural fibers.

Add the right kind of insulation. Batt or rolled insulation or blown loose fill insulation fiberglass or cellulose can be installed on top of old insulation. Spray foam attic insulation. Fiberglass is just that thin fibers of glass that trap air.

If you re just beginning the process of adding or replacing insulation throughout your house the attic is the perfect place to start. Insulation should be rolled out perpendicular to the joists and unfaced rolls should be used. 3 have a friend add material to the hopper. If you ve reached your target depth but still have a few bags left over keep adding the material at an even depth throughout the space until all the bags your calculations called for are empty.

Block all vents in the attic floor with baffles making sure to extend the baffles at least four inches above the planned thickness of your insulation. The first step of your project will be choosing an insulation type. The recommended level for most attics is to insulate to r 38 or about 10 to 14 inches depending on insulation type. The negative thing about blown in insulation is that it makes the attic absolutely impassable when you re done and you need a lot more thickness of it because it has more air inside of it than you would if you used fiberglass bats.